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UFCW & Employers Arizona Health and Welfare Trust
The UFCW & Employers Arizona Health and Welfare Trust was established in 1968 as a Taft-Hartley multiemployer benefit plan. Sponsored jointly by UFCW Local 99...
UFCW & Employers Arizona Health and Welfare Trust
The UFCW & Employers Arizona Health and Welfare Trust was established in 1968 as a Taft-Hartley multiemployer benefit plan. Sponsored jointly by UFCW Local 99 and UFCW Local 1564, the trust collects contributions from unionized employers, including Fry's Food and Drug and Smith's Food & Drug Centers, to provide health benefits for thousands of retail food workers and their families across Arizona. The trust absorbed the New Mexico Health Fund through a merger in 2015, consolidating its regional footprint. The trust's investment portfolio must generate returns sufficient to meet actuarial liabilities tied to medical-hospital, dental, prescription, vision, disability, and death benefit obligations. While specific allocations are not publicly broken out, multiemployer health trusts of this scale typically hold a mix of fixed-income instruments, equities, and real-asset exposures to match their benefit payout schedules. The trust shares administrative leadership with the Desert States UFCW Pension Fund, creating operational efficiencies across both Taft-Hartley plans. Real estate holdings include the UFCW Local 99 headquarters at 2401 North Central Avenue in Phoenix. The trust operates from that same Central Avenue office, with Jim McLaughlin serving as Chair of the Board of Trustees. The board is jointly appointed by labor and management trustees, per standard Taft-Hartley governance. The trust's labor affiliations extend through UFCW Local 99 into the Arizona AFL-CIO and the Maricopa Area Labor Federation, embedding the fund within Arizona's broader organized-labor infrastructure. In 2015, the trust merged with the New Mexico Health Fund, absorbing that plan's participants and assets into the Arizona-based vehicle. Structurally, the trust stands apart from typical institutional allocators because it is a welfare benefit plan — not a pension fund or endowment. This means its investment horizon is compressed by annual benefit-payout cycles rather than the 30-year retirement-liability curves that shape pension portfolios. Liquidity management and short-duration fixed income play an outsized role relative to long-dated private-market commitments, though the trust does maintain a real estate component through its Phoenix office property.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
1968
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Phoenix
Corporate office
2401 North Central Avenue, 2nd Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85004, United States
Principals
Jim McLaughlin
Chair of the Board of Trustees
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who oversees investment decisions at the UFCW & Employers Arizona Health and Welfare Trust?
A joint board of trustees — split evenly between labor representatives from UFCW Local 99 and UFCW Local 1564 and management representatives from contributing employers — governs the trust. Jim McLaughlin serves as Chair. The board typically delegates day-to-day investment management to external consultants and asset managers rather than running an internal investment office.
How does this trust differ from the Desert States UFCW Pension Fund?
Both are Taft-Hartley plans sharing UFCW sponsorship and leadership, but they serve distinct purposes. The Health and Welfare Trust funds active healthcare benefits — medical, dental, prescription, vision — paid out on a near-term cycle. The Desert States UFCW Pension Fund covers retirement income and operates over multi-decade liability horizons, which shapes materially different asset-allocation strategies.
What employers contribute to the trust?
Contributing employers include Fry's Food and Drug and Smith's Food & Drug Centers, both subsidiaries of Kroger, along with other unionized grocers and food-processing employers across Arizona. Contribution rates are set through collective bargaining agreements between UFCW locals and each employer.
What was the impact of the 2015 New Mexico Health Fund merger?
The merger folded New Mexico-based participants and trust assets into the Arizona plan, expanding the participant base and consolidating administrative functions under the Phoenix office. Mergers between Taft-Hartley health plans are common responses to rising healthcare costs and administrative duplication.
Does the trust invest in alternatives like private equity or venture capital?
Public disclosure does not detail specific alternative commitments. As a health-and-welfare trust with annual benefit-payout obligations, liquidity constraints typically limit illiquid allocations relative to a pension fund. Any private-market exposure would likely skew toward liquid alternatives, real estate, or short-duration private credit rather than traditional closed-end private equity.
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